


Eye of the Beholder

by carinascott



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-01
Updated: 2013-06-01
Packaged: 2017-12-13 15:03:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/825671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carinascott/pseuds/carinascott





	Eye of the Beholder

Bruce was more than a little shocked when he saw Steve's sketch pad sitting on the coffee table in the large 'common' room of the Tower. Steve was pretty shy about his work, rarely showing anyone what he spent his free hours sketching, so it was odd that the other man would leave it out.

Not wanting to have Steve's privacy invaded, knowing that Tony wouldn't hesitate to look at it should he see the pad unattended, Bruce grabbed it up and headed in search of the captain. Steve was probably down in the gym, or maybe he'd gone into the kitchen for a bite to eat. 

It wasn't an entirely selfless mission, guarding Steve's sketchbook as he was; Bruce was hoping that the nice gesture would lead to Steve showing him some sketches in the book. He'd often wondered what it was that caused Steve to blush so prettily whenever anyone inquired about his sketches.

He was lost in thought as he was walking down the hall towards the kitchen, his first stop, and as such he didn't see Steve walking towards him down the hall. He bumped into him, hands flying out to steady himself as he crashed into the wall, sketch pad flying out, some papers scattering everywhere.

"I'm sorry, Bruce! Are you okay?"

"Yeah, sorry. It was my fault for not paying attention. Let me just..." Bruce trailed off as he squatted to start picking up the pages that had fallen from Steve's sketchpad. "You left your sketchpad out and I know how much you like to guard it, so I was bringing it to you. But now I've made a mess." 

"Uh. Thanks. I didn't even realize...."

Steve's voice trailed off as Bruce started to take note of the images on the pages that he'd been gathering up. There was a profile of him working in the lab, one of him dozing in the couch, one of him laughing with Tony, one of him that appeared to be him waking up after being the other guy; from what he could tell, it seemed like all the sketches were of him.

Frowning, more than a little confused, Bruce looked over to Steve, noticing the redness staining his friend's cheeks, "Steve? I don't understand.....why are all these sketches of me."

Steve seemed to deflate at his words, broad shoulders slumping, as the redness grew deeper. "I'm sorry, Bruce. I know its weird, and I'm sorry if it makes you feel comfortable."

Bruce smiled, shaking his head. He touched Steve on the shoulder, trying to calm him, "I'm not uncomfortable. I just don't understand. There has to be better subjects. I'm sure Tony would love to sit for you, if you asked. Would definitely feed his ego."

Steve laughed. "Yeah, I'm sure it would. But I didn't want to sketch him."

"Oh." Bruce replied intelligently, before handing back the sketches. 

"So, would you like to keep one? I know their not the best, but they are of you, so I should probably give you one. Its the least I can do since you've been my unwitting subject for all this time."

Bruce smiled, not hesitating to pick out the one of him in the lab. "Thanks. I think you've probably taken some artistic license with these, I don't really look that .....good most of the time. But I still like it."

"I just draw what I see."

Bruce smiled, a part of him delighting at the fact that Steve saw him in such a beautiful light. "Thank you."

Steve smiled in return, taking the sketchpad and straightening some of the loosened pages into order. "I was feeling lazy, so I ordered a pizza instead of cooking something. It should be here soon, would you like to split it with me?"

Bruce hesitated for a bit, almost declining, but something pushed him to accept. "Sure, that would be great. Let me just go put this away."

Steve nodded, turning on his heel and heading back towards the common room. Bruce walked towards his own floor, still reeling from their short encounter. He couldn't believe that Steve had sketched so many portraits of him, and with such breathtaking clarity and capturing an essence of Bruce that he still couldn't believe wasn't owed to Steve's artistic flair.

But Steve had said he simply drew what he saw, which implied that he considered Bruce beautiful in several regards. Bruce wasn't sure how to take that. It could mean nothing, Steve was an artist after all; they tended to find beauty where there was none to be had. But whatever it meant, Bruce was sure that a page had just been turned in their friendship.

And he definitely had no desire to turn it back.

END


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